Detention of third-country nationals in return procedures The Spanish Ombudsman identified inadequate communication between interned immigrants and their legal advisers as one of the main obstacles to an effective judicial review of internment measures,235 whereas an NGO raised that legal representative appointed ex officio very often do not make contact with the interned immigrant for several days.236 In Romania, the Jesuit Refugee Service expressed concern about the lack of funds for NGOs providing legal assistance to detained immigrants.237 In Estonia, applications for free legal assistance have to be submitted in the Estonian language.238 NGOs contracted in Austria to provide return counselling in all pre-removal detention facilities, do not offer legal assistance or referrals to lawyers. 239 In other cases, finding names of lawyers to contact may be difficult, as usually no access to the internet is available.240 Rules governing visits, communication and correspondence with lawyers can also considerably impact on the effectiveness of judicial review. While restrictions to receive visitors do normally not apply (or not apply to the same degree) to lawyers or consular staff,241 and correspondence with lawyers should in theory not be supervised or screened,242 detainees may often lack the means or knowledge to contact a lawyer. Only in a few countries do the authorities bear the costs of calls or correspondence 235 See Informe sobre asistencia jurídica a los extranjeros en España, Defensor del Pueblo, Madrid, text in Spanish available at: http://www. defensordelpueblo.es/ index.asp?destino=informes2.asp.  236 APDHA (2009): Observaciones iniciales de la Asociación Pro-Derechos Humanos de Andalucia al quinto informe periódico del estado español presentado al Comité de derechos humanos en lo relativo a la inmigración, in Spanish, available at: http://www.apdha.org/media/inmigraAPDHAONU.pdf. 237 Jesuit Refugee Service, Detention News 2007-2008: Romania, available at: http://detention-in-europe.org/images/stories/docs/dvproject/news/ detention%20jrs%20romania%20may%202008.pdf. 238 State Legal Aid Act, Section 12(5) which allows only persons who have a residence or citizenship of another EU Member State to use English language, Riigikantselei (15.07.2004) Riigi Teataja I, 56, 403. 239 See Section 1a (8) Anhalteordnung (AnhO) [Order of the Federal Minister of the Interior concerning the Detention of Persons by the Security Authorities and by Agents of the Public Security Service], Austria/BGBl II 128/1999, last amended by BGBl II 439/2005 (22.12.2005). Unofficial English translation by UNHCR available at: http://www.unhcr.at/fileadmin/ unhcr_data/pdfs_at/information_in_english/Detention_Regulation.pdf. 240 See Jesuit Refugee Service – Europe, Becoming vulnerable in detention, 2010, pp. 73 and 75. 241 See, for example, Austria, Detention Regulations [Anhalteordnung] at 21.3; Spain, Law 4/2000 Article 62bis; Netherlands, Penitentiary Principles Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet), 18 juni 1998 at 38.7 which stress that visits by lawyers should take place in a confidential setting. According to information received by the FRA, in Luxembourg lawyers and diplomatic representatives can see the detainee once a day. 242 See, for example, Austria, Detention Regulations, at 20; Dutch Penitentiaire Beginselenwe at 37.1(i) and 39.4 (which only allows checks to establish the identity of the lawyer); Swedish Aliens Law, Chapter 11, Section 10. 46 with a lawyer.243 In some facilities detainees are not allowed to keep their mobile phones,244 thus limiting the possibilities to be contacted by or to contact a lawyer. Effective access to legal assistance is a key safeguard of the right to a judicial review of pre-removal detention. More comprehensive research would be needed to identify the different types of obstacles existing in law and in practice as well as to document best practices on how these have been addressed by States. In the absence of a comparative overview, advantage should be taken of the experiences collected at national level. FRA Opinion In light of the variety of obstacles that irregular migrants need to overcome to access legal assistance, EU Member States are encouraged when reviewing their aliens or immigration laws to enter into a dialogue with civil society organisations as well as bar associations in order to find pragmatic legislative and practical solutions to the obstacles encountered which are non-discriminatory and remain in compliance with international obligations. Furthermore, detailed comparative research on whether legal assistance is accessible in practice should be undertaken covering all European Union countries. 243 As an illustration, in Belgium, the detainee has the right to contact his/ her lawyer every day free of charge from 8.00 – 22.00, see Article 63 of Royal Decree of 2 August 2002 (published on 12 September 2002). In Luxembourg they can call their lawyer free of charge once per day. In Austria, where correspondence is for the purpose of contacting relatives, legal representatives, representatives of the pre-removal detainee care service, authorities or diplomatic or consular representatives, costs of postage shall in such cases be borne by the authority, Detention Regulation at Section 20.2. 244 See Footnote 210.